D iAlex Drake
Detective Inspector Alex Drake is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Ashes to Ashes. The character is portrayed by Keeley Hawes and as a child by Lucy Cole. Biography Background D.I. Alex Drake née Price was a detective and police psychologist of an unknown division of the Metropolitan Police Service in 2008. While living in London with her only daughter Molly, DI Drake was studying and analysing the psychological evaluation and death of former Greater Manchester Police DCI Sam Tyler. After being shot by criminal Arthur Layton, Alex woke up in 1981. Early Life ).]] Alexandra "Alex" Price was born in London to wealthy barristers Tim Price and Caroline Price in 1973 which, coincidentally, is the same year that Sam Tyler woke up in after being hit by a high speed car in 2006. Their good friend and solicitor Evan White became her godfather. As an only child, she became fascinated with the brain and how it worked which she wished to study ([[Series 2: Episode 8 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 2: Episode 8]]). She was educated at a private school for the rest of childhood. While growing up, Alex became very fond of Evan who often satisfied her with presents including the Rubik's Cube which was a new toy in 1980 ([[Series 1: Episode 3 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 1: Episode 3]]). Like Sam Tyler's father, Alex's father read "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis to young Alex. ([[Series 1: Episode 7 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 1: Episode 7]]) 1981 On 29 July 1981, at the age of eight, Alex was forced to stay at school by her mother during the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer despite it being a national holiday ([[Series 1: Episode 2 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 1: Episode 2]]). With her school, she went to Boulogne, France. While her father was working away in the United States, she caught her mother and her godfather having an affair, though she was unaware of what they were doing ([[Series 1: Episode 4 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 1: Episode 4]]). On 9 October 1981, while at school, her parents were falsely arrested for the possession of cocaine, however, they would be released on the following day. Presumably, Alex spent the night with her godfather unaware of what happened to her parents ([[Series 1: Episode 8 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 1: Episode 8]]). The Death of her Parents )]] On the following day, Alex was taken out of school early by her mother so they could go on a trip away from London for a few days. Alex's father, who had discovered Caroline's affair with Evan, insisted that he would drive them to the train station in Evan's armed Ford Escort he borrowed. The car was armed with a bomb that was fitted by Arthur Layton whom he released from police custody. While leaving the school, Alex was holding a red balloon that she had accidently let go of when she got into the car on Ashton Street. As they set off, her father armed the bomb using a tape cassette of Ashes to Ashes by David Bowie. Distracted by the balloon, she got out of the car to retrieve it. Seconds after she rescued her balloon, Tim detonated the bomb and the car exploded; killing her parents in the blast. Distraught by the death of her parents, DCI Gene Hunt, who was in the area, assisted Alex and carried her to safety followed by her godfather who had failed to stop Tim from detonating the bomb. She was taken to Fenchurch East where she reunited with Evan to begin a new life with him. When she left the police station, Gene Hunt jokingly offered her help from "the Gene Genie" for the future. When Alex grew up, she believed that her godfather was the person who carried her to safety. ([[Series 1: Episode 8 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 1: Episode 8]]) Late 20th Century Following the death of her parents, Alex spent the rest of her childhood in the care of her godfather Evan White. After she finished school in the early 1990s, she joined the Metropolitan Police Service where she trained at Hendon Police College and learned about Operation Rose. Her admiration of the brain encouraged her to go to Oxbridge University for a number of years where she studied psychology and became a police psychologist who was trained to "get inside the criminal mind" ([[Series 1: Episode 3 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 1: Episode 3]]). At some point in the 1990s, Alex met Pete Drake and they entered a relationship together. Together, they became married and had one daughter together in 1996 whom they named Molly (after Alex's great-grandmother and Peter's black cat) ([[Series 2: Episode 8 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 2: Episode 8]]). However, their relationship was shattered when Pete abandoned Alex and six month old Molly. While in grief, Peter's father Bryan Drake comforted her and encouraged her to be optimistic. ([[Series 2: Episode 5 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 2: Episode 5]]) 21st Century In the years leading up to her coma, Alex Drake became a Detective Inspector who began to study colleagues who had experienced previous trauma and composed a book dedicated to these traumas ([[Series 1: Episode 1 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 1: Episode 1]]). In April 2007, she began to study the psychiatric evaluation results of DCI Sam Tyler who had woken up from a coma following a car crash and committed suicide in Manchester shortly after. The results of Tyler were so unique that she was dedicating her own book towards him. ([[Series 2: Episode 8 (Life on Mars)|LoM Series 2: Episode 8]]) 2008 )]] In 2008 on the 12th birthday of Molly, Alex was sent as a hostage negotiator to Arthur Layton who was threatening to kill a busker outside the Tate Modern museum. As she attempted to negotiate with Layton, he revealed that he knew the truth behind the death of her parents. However, her daughter intervened and was briefly taken hostage until Layton escaped. After leaving Molly with their godfather Evan White, Alex was taken hostage by Layton and was forced at gunpoint to drive to Greenwich. When she was led by Layton into an old barge, she was shot in the head and killed. Her death sent her into Gene Hunt's World. ([[Series 1: Episode 1 (Ashes to Ashes)|A2A Series 1: Episode 1]]) Key Life Events *Born in the early 1970s to barristers Tim and Caroline Price. *Narrowly avoids death in a controlled car explosion which takes the lives of her parents. *Unknown man aids young Alex. Alex, for most of her life, believes the man was her godfather Evan White but is later revealed to be DCI Gene Hunt. *Joins Metropolitan Police Service and graduates from Hendon Police College *Studies psychology at Oxbridge University *Enters a relationship with Pete Drake and has a daughter together in 1996. *Marries and divorces Pete Drake at some point. *Promotes to Detective Inspector. *Begins to evaluate the psychiatric results and death of DCI Tyler from 2007 into 2008. *Shot dead by Arthur Layton near the London Borough of Greenwich. (Series 1: Episode 1 (Ashes to Ashes)) *Enters Gene Hunt's World like Tyler and wakes up in July 1981 working for DCI Gene Hunt. *Brings down drug yuppie Edward Markham after kidnapping Sharon Granger and arrests Arthur Layton. *Investigates a series of bomb threats towards the redevelopment of the East End concurrent to Prince Charles and Diana Spencer's wedding. (Series 1: Episode 2 (Ashes to Ashes)) *Investigates the rape and attempted murder of a prostitute. (Series 1: Episode 3 (Ashes to Ashes)) *Investigates the disappearance of a nuclear research worker's body. (Series 1: Episode 4 (Ashes to Ashes)) *Investigates into the pimp and drug dealer Simon Neary. (Series 1: Episode 5 (Ashes to Ashes)) *Investigates an armed robbery connnected to the restaurant owner Chas Cale. (Series 1: Episode 6 (Ashes to Ashes)) *Investigates the robbery of £20,000 from a charity fund raiser. (Series 1: Episode 7 (Ashes to Ashes)) *Discovers the truth and fails to prevent the death of her parents in a car explosion. (Series 1: Episode 8 (Ashes to Ashes)) *Discovers Gene Hunt was the unknown man who aided Alex. *Forced to live in 1981 for several months. *In 1982, Alex starts receieve new signs of a possible return to 2008. (Series 2: Episode 1) *Investigates the death of a police officer in a Soho strip club. *Meets Martin Summers informally. *Investigates the death of a Romani in a car accident that appears to be [Gene Hunt|Gene Hunt's fault. (Series 2: Episode 2) *Investigates into the vandalism of an animal experimentation laboratory which leads to an animal rights activist. (Series 2: Episode 3) *Investigates into the disappearance of many young northern women shielded by Superintendent Mackintosh. (Series 2: Episode 4) *Eye-witnesses to the death of Superintendent Mackintosh. *Investigatse a violent burglary in the Drake household. (Series 2: Episode 5) *Meets counterpart of her ex-husband and Molly's father Pete Drake. *Investigates into a dead body in a canal with the sign of a loan shark. (Series 2: Episode 6) *Investigates the appearance of a body buried in concrete at a construction site. (Series 2: Episode 7) *Partakes in the foiling of Operation Rose with Gene Hunt. (Series 2: Episode 8) *Witnesses the killing of Martin Summers by Hunt. *Shot by Gene Hunt and sent in a coma while concurrently waking up from her coma in 2008. *Reunites with her daughter but has visions of Gene Hunt. *Stops seeing visions of Hunt which return months later. *Wakes up from coma in February 1983 after being slapped by Hunt. (Series 3: Episode 1) *Investigates into the kidnap of a young girl with ransom. *Investigates independently into the distorted death of DI Sam Tyler. *Investigates the murder of several women and a severed hand in the post. (Series 3: Episode 2) *Investigates a series of arson attacks leading to the 1983 General Election. (Series 3: Episode 3) *Investigates several drug dealers in the local area. (Series 3: Episode 4) *Investigates the embezzlement of the Police Widows and Orphans Fund with DCI Derek Litton and DI Geoff Bevan. (Series 3: Episode 5) *Attempts to rescue hostage Sergeant Viv James from HM Prison Fenchurch following a prison riot. (Series 3: Episode 6) *Enters 'Heaven' with Shaz, Chris and Ray after Jim Keats fails to drag them to hell. (Series 3: Episode 8) Category:Ashes to Ashes characters